Chapter Eleven

Christmas questions

If Harry thought that the Christmas season had been crazy at the burrow all those years ago, it was nothing for a Christmas season with four kids under eleven. His house was insane, it looked like father Christmas and all his reindeer had come in and threw up. With James and Al being older now Ginny and Teddy had helped them and they went all out. There were paper chains, everywhere, all speckled with glitter and glue. Their tree had popcorn chains and homemade ornaments from the kids. Real fairies were floating in the branches, all at least four foot or higher, well out of reach of the little hands in the house.

He had been home for a week, he was proud to say that he had kept his promise, and even happier to say that no random, terrifying act of magic had brought Ginny's prediction to life. Where she had come up with that he had no idea. And he was glad to be home, in his bed, and not making nice with Draco Malfoy. Though he had to admit, they were really doing well together. So far they had fully destroyed 7 houses, 2 of which were Malfoy estates, and collected several items that were linked to Voldemort and or the death eaters. At the last house they had found what looked like half of a list of hideouts for specific death eaters, as well as a target list. Harry was not surprised to see his name with the words, seek and capture, in bold red letters.

"Do you think I would still get that reward?" Malfoy joked.

Harry shrugged, "Meh, if you split it with me we can try, and make a bet on the money if I can take them or not."

"It will have to wait for after Christmas, Astoria will kill me if I miss Christmas." Draco said with a shudder.

"Oh, right, I wouldn't want to face Gin if I missed it either."

"I think you are more scared of your wife than you ever were of Voldemort." Draco said rolling his eyes.

"I know for a fact, that you are right. Though, if I am completely honest, I was bloody scared to death for nearly the entire time I was in Hogwarts." Harry said, shaking his head at all the memories.

"Am I just to assume you were a good actor then?"

"No, you just never were one to pay attention." Harry had joked

Smiling slightly to himself at the fact that he was achieving a goal, working with Malfoy, that he hadn't ever even considered being possible. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arm around his already sleeping wife. He was happy to be home for the next fortnight.

0o0o0o0o

All the air pushed out of him as a pair of knobby knees pierced his gut.

"Hmhphhp." Came his winded response.

"Don't grab your wand it's just Al!" Ginny said, she knew her husband all too well.

Harry peeked open an eye and looked towards the window in their room. "Al, it is still dark out." He said, sleep filling his head.

Suddenly a much heavier weight threw itself over his middile, right below where Albus sat on his chest.

"But it is Christmas dad, we want to open presents." Sang Teddy.

Harry looked down and saw the boy leaning over the bed, his feet dangling, he gripped a handful of the back of his proffered medi witch pants that he wore for sleeping and flung him up onto the bed between himself and Ginny.

"Sleep." He ordered, throwing Albus down beside his oldest brother, both of them giggling at their flights through the air.

Instantly cold settled over Harry as he no longer had a blanket, Ginny was laughing from her place warm and snug under the covers, her arm wrapped around Albus.

"But Daddy! Father Christmas could have come!" James said imperiously, his hands on his hips. Harry grabbed him under the arms and flung him into the small space between himself and Teddy, they all knew better than to put Albus and James side by side by now.

"It is," he consulted the watch that had once been Fabian's.. "It is 4:47 in the morning! I assure you if you don't go back to sleep right now I will call Father Christmas and have him come pick up all these gifts." He grumbled as James and Al looked shocked and Teddy chuckled.

"Nah uh, you don't know him." James said stubbornly.

"no know him." Albus repeated, the same set look on his face.

"Oh but I do, mess with me and there will be no presents for anyone but Lily, who is the only quiet member of the house."

Without warning Lily gave a yell from the next room, Ginny sat up and rubbed her eyes, Albus burst out of bed from beside her, bouncing up and down.

"Well shite. It is a conspiracy, they have me set up." He whined to his wife who only laughed and stood stretching as she left the room, Harry watched as his overlarge jersey rode up on her hips. "Good morning Mrs. Potter, it is always lovely to see you." He said, little concealed seduction in his eyes.

She giggled like she had back when they were sixteen and seventeen, smiling like a school girl. "Well, there is always nap time." She purred, "And I will look even better when I beat you poor boys to the presents." She said as she ran from the room.

"No!" James cried out, leaping from the bed, Albus was hot on his heals while Harry and Teddy remained laying on the bed.

"I am going to have to get up, aren't I little man?"

"I think you are, and don't you think I am too big for you to call me little man? I will be eleven in just a few months."

Harry felt his heart sink, he knew that Teddy was serious this time, he had mentioned it while giggling before, but Harry had known it wasn't true, but this time…

"You are getting too grown up on me Teddy." He said as he pulled him into his arms and held him in a hug.

"You know, on your first Christmas, you came over really early and were beating on my bedroom door with a bow on your head. You were entirely too cute for so early in the morning."

"Didn't I live with you then?"

"No, that was when I was still in school, you lived at Hogwarts with your Gramma and you came to visit me often, though you did stay all night that evening." Harry said as he remembered the year they had gotten Paddy.

"You had a room for me?" Teddy asked, he was just starting to like to hear about when he was a baby.

"Nah, once Gin and I got married we did, and actually in our house, we did have a room for you but, well you can't live with a witch till you are married so until then you slept with me in my bed."

"But where did mum sleep?" asked Teddy, surprised.

"We were only teenagers Ted, we weren't married yet, she slept in her own bedroom."

"Oh, but why, didn't you know you loved her?"

This was treading to a very dangerous conversation in Harry's opinion.

"Well, yes, but you don't get to sleep in the same bed with a girl until you marry them." Harry explained.

"But what if you don't live together, you are just having a sleepover?" Teddy asked, innocently enough.

"Those are strictly not allowed." Harry said firmly. "Girls don't stay all night. Unless it is with your sister in which case they stay in her room."

"But Vic stays all night all the time, we have even slept in my room. I know she doesn't act like it, but she is a girl." Teddy pointed out.

He hated it when one of his kids one upped him, "That doesn't count." Harry said.

"Why not?" Teddy asked, obviously not understanding.

"Because we hadn't had this conversation before, no more sleeping in the same room with Vic, or any other girl for that matter." He said with a huff. "You know what little man, I bet they have beat us to the gifts."

"Daad." Teddy whined at the use of the nick name.

"Right, sorry, it will take time to remember. "Let's go get to the tree."

Teddy jumped up and followed down the stairs.

"So how old will I be when a girl can sleep in my room again so we can stay up all night playing?"

Harry nearly choked, as it was Ginny did. She looked up at the pair, Harry red faced and looking like he had just come out on the bad end of a battle, and Teddy just looking confused.

"Not till you are thirty at least." Ginny replied.

"Mum, you aren't even thirty yet." Teddy pointed out.

"Yes well, I was rebellious and you love me too much to put me through all of that."

Teddy smiled and shrugged before spotting a present with his name on. He rushed the tree to help the boys pass out gifts. Ginny handed Lily to Harry, who still looked rattled.

"Bet you can't wait for that full conversation in a few year huh?" she said with a grin.

"Nughngh, do not remind me." He groaned as he watched the kids tear into the paper. He looked at Lily and kissed her head, "If you love me at all you will stop growing when you are five." He said.

"AAhhahah Dadadadad." She replied, just happy to be out of her cot.

"See I knew you were my favorite for a reason